Ann Killion: 5 yards keep Kaepernick from becoming a legend

Updated 12:53 pm, Monday, February 4, 2013

NEW ORLEANS -- Five yards. That's all that stood between the 49ers and glory.

Five yards. A distance Colin Kaepernick could cover with one stride of his long legs.

"All the work we did in the offseason, the whole entire season, everything came down to five yards," Joe Staley said. "We weren't able to get it done." Five yards short.

The game ended with confetti on the Ravens and a question for the 49ers: why didn't they use their most dangerous weapon at their most desperate time? Why didn't Kaepernick run the ball in? Three straight passes went toward Michael Crabtree. Three straight passes fell incomplete.

Kaepernick became the first 49ers quarterback to ever lose a Super Bowl. But, in a dazzling second half, he showed that he has everything it takes to win one. Except perhaps the right call at the right time.

So world be warned.

"I think he can bring us here again and again," Delanie Walker said. "We're going to put that on his back." Kaepernick put his team on his back for most of the second half, but was denied the chance to carry them to victory. What was becoming a Super Bowl embarrassment for the 49ers instead evolved into a heartbreaking final minute loss. After rallying back from a 22-point deficit, the 49ers were in position to take the lead. But three passes fell incomplete.

Five yards short.

"Those were the plays that were called," Staley said.

Kaepernick said he had an option on one of the passes that he audibled out of. Jim Harbaugh also said there was a run option on one of the plays. But it wasn't used.

On second-and-goal at the five, after the two-minute warning, the 25-year old from Turlock walked calmly back to the huddle. He appeared to be "cool Colin" -- looking every bit like a man ready to join Joe Montana and Steve Young as 49ers Super Bowl winners.

The 49ers had called both the third and fourth down plays coming out of the two-minute warning. Both were passes directed to the right of the field toward Crabtree. On the 49ers final offensive play, a fade to the end zone, Crabtree appeared to be held, but there was no call. Jim Harbaugh complained, but expecting the officials to bail you out on that play isn't a surefire way to win the Super Bowl.

The Ravens took over, ran out the clock and held on for the 34-31 victory.

Five yards short.

For most of the night, the 49ers looked a lot further away from victory than that.

They were awful from the outset of the game. Kaepernick did not help the effort. He threw an interception, becoming the first 49ers quarterback to ever make that mistake in a Super Bowl. He looked nervous and tentative. He didn't spot open receivers. He seemed every bit like a second-year player making just his tenth start in the NFL.

His tenth start just happened to be in the Super Bowl.

Kaepernick's first half problems were thrown into sharp relief by the brilliant play of Joe Flacco, the game's eventual; MVP. Flacco was the quarterback moving into the record books alongside Montana. In the first half, Flacco completed 13 of 20 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns, scorching the 49ers weakest link - their secondary. Flacco's record of eleven touchdowns and no interceptions in the playoffs tied Montana's record.

The 49ers dismal start was a collective effort. The 49ers came out looking underprepared and overmatched. They had bad penalties and turnovers. At times they looked almost uninterested -- failing to tackle or hit hard. On Kaepernick's interception, the self-proclaimed greatest receiver of all time, Randy Moss, was flat-footed and watched the ball sail over his head into Ed Reed's hands.

But down 21-6 at halftime, offensive coordinator Greg Roman told his team that everything they had worked on was there for the taking.

"I never felt uncomfortable in the game, I never felt unconfident," Staley said. "I felt we were going to make that a game." Then the 49ers came out for the second half and immediately watched Jacoby Jones dance through them for a kick-return touchdown.

Though his teammates said he looked like the same calm guy they've seen for two months, Kaepernick wasn't as poised as he had been through the playoffs. On the first drive of the second half, rolling out of the pocket he stumbled, tripped up by big defensive lineman Arthur Jones for a six-yard sack.

And then the lights went out.

For 36 minutes of confusing, irritating darkness. Kaepernick sat on the bench. And waited for his second chance to make things right.

"I just sat there and got ready for the lights to come back on," he said When they did and the third quarter resumed, something had clicked in Kaepernick. As though a light bulb went on.

His passes were crisper. He moved with more confidence. He fired bullets. Lofted deep passes. He led the 49ers on four scoring drives. And when he ran 15 yards into the end zone- the longest touchdown run by a quarterback in a Super Bowl - and angrily Kaepernicked, it seemed as though everything in the game had changed.

In the second half, Kaepernick was the star. He outplayed Flacco. He finished the game with 16 of 28 completions for 302 yards. It was the fourth 300-yard passing game by a 49ers quarterback. Montana did it twice and Young did it once. But that wasn't the category Kaepernick wanted to join: he wanted to be among the 49ers legends that never lost a Super Bowl.

Kaepernick also ran seven times for 62 yards. But it was the five rushing yards that Kaepernick didn't get that will haunt the 49ers forever.